New BECE timetable out — Maths and Science now on different days

The West African Examinations Council (WAEC) has come out with a new and revised timetable for this year’s Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE).

The new timetable was developed to replace the first one which came out but was rejected by some stakeholders because Mathematics and Science, for instance, were to be written the same day.

The two subjects, according to the new timetable, would now be written on separate days.

One of the stakeholders, the Mathematical Association of Ghana (MAG), had earlier appealed to WAEC to revise the timetable to prevent candidates from writing Mathematics and Science the same day, since they were both perceived to be difficult subjects.

The MAG said the pairing of both papers 1 and 2 of Mathematics and Integrated Science on the same day was not favourable to the candidates, hence the need for a change in the timetable.

copy of the new timetable, which was made available to the Junior Graphic, shows that Integrated Science (papers 1 and 2) will be written on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 with Basic Design (papers 1 and 2).

Mathematics (papers 1 and 2) will now be written on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 alongside Ghanaian Language and Culture (papers 1 and 2).

This means that on each day of the examination, four papers would be written by candidates, making it possible for them to finish writing the examination in five days instead of six.

This year’s BECE starts on June 16, 2014 and will end on Friday, June 20, 2014.

According to the timetable, paper 1 of each subject would be written immediately after paper 2. There would, however, be a break before the start of the second part of the examination each day.

The timetable allows blind, deaf and dumb candidates one-and-half-times the time alloted to other candidates.

Previously, BECE candidates wrote three papers a day— papers 1 and 2 of a particular subject, as well as paper 1 of another subject the same day. The paper 2 of that subject was then written the next day, alongside papers 1 and 2 of a different subject.

Ironically, a number of students the Junior Graphic interviewed in September 2012 proposed an extension of the duration of the BECE from six to 10 days.

That, they said, would enable candidates to write one subject each day so that they could have enough time to revise during the examination.

The students said, for instance, if their suggestion was considered, candidates could write both the objective test and the paper 2 (the essay test) of a subject the same day.

The JHS students complained that the three papers of the two subjects the candidates wrote each day were too many for them.

Meanwhile, some BECE candidates have expressed mixed feelings about the new timetable.

While some of the candidates said the duration for the examination was short, others said the examination period was okay.

However, all the candidates were happy that Science and Mathematics would now be written on different days instead of the same day, as has been the case over the years.

Miss Ellen Sam of the Christ The King School said writing four papers one day was going to be very tough.